The drink twice as deadly for women

Drinking too much too often is twice as fatal for women as men, according to new research that has prompted GPs to call for screening of female patients for excessive alcohol consumption.

A German study that followed 149 heavy drinkers for 14 years found women alcoholics were nearly five times as likely to die early as their non-addicted peers.

Alcohol-dependent men were only twice as likely to die early as members of the general population.

The alcohol-addicted men and women were about 20 years younger on average than the normal life expectancy at the time of their death.

''Our findings suggest that women with alcohol dependence should be considered at higher risk of premature death than alcohol-dependent men," said the authors of the study, to be published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research early next year.

Lead researcher Ulrich John told The Sun-Herald that in light of these results GPs should screen their female patients, asking questions about excess alcohol and tobacco consumption.

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The director of Australia's National Drug Research Institute, Steve Allsop, said differences in biological make-up made alcohol more dangerous for women than men. He said men are generally bigger than women with more body water and less body fat, meaning the same amount of alcohol results in a higher blood alcohol level for women.

"Women are more at risk of intoxication than men; in the longer term they become more dependent quicker and they experience more physical harm in a shorter period of time than men," Professor Allsop said.

The German findings tallied with the National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol, he said.

According to the NHMRC, the risks from drinking more than the recommended two standard drinks a day increase at a faster rate for women. Women who consume 10 standard drinks a day have a 10 per cent risk of death from alcohol-related causes, while men who consume the same amount have a 6 per cent risk of death.

Professor Allsop said this was particularly concerning because in the past decade the number of young women drinking at risky levels had caught up with young men.

One in three 18- to 19-year-olds and one in four 20- to 29-year-olds drank at risky levels in the previous week, according to the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey.

Alcoholism can lead to cardiovascular disease, brain damage, and kidney and liver disease. Male alcoholics are more likely to die from alcohol-related causes such as car accidents.

Mum's unequal battle lost

SONJA EBBELS witnessed up close the lethal effects of alcoholism on women. She watched her mother die of the disease after 12years of heavy drinking.

Ms Ebbels realised her mother had a problem when they were on holiday together in the mid-1990s. But it was only when her mother switched from white wine to whisky that her health sharply deteriorated.

Within five years, she was bedridden. Two years later, in 2004, she died at just62.

“The first thing to go was her muscle strength. She became very weak, very emaciated’’ Ms Ebbels, who is from Port Melbourne, recalled.

“In the latter stages she got dementia and her mind went entirely. In the end she died of pneumonia. Her organs failed.’’

But male relative of her mother’s who had started drinking earlier in life and drank more excessively outlived her by eight years.

“His health didn’t deteriorate nearly as rapidly as mum’s,’’ Ms Ebbels, 42, said. “He was more functional. Up to the end, he still went to work.’’

Ms Ebbels said her mother remained an inspiration to her. “She was an incredibly strong woman. She fought a disease and lost. It is a battle which very few women win.’’